Give not thy tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner. A word unspoken is like thy sword in thy scabbard; if vented, the sword is in another’s hand. If thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue.

Wisdom alone is the true and unalloyed coin for which we ought to exchange all things, for this and with this everything is bought and sold–fortitude, temperance, and justice; in a word, true virtue subsists with wisdom.

In no field of endeavor is it easier than in the field of foreign affairs to be honestly wrong; in no field is it harder for contemporaries to be certain they can distinguish between wisdom and folly; in no field would it be less practicable to try to insist on infallibility as a mark of fitness for office.